Water Corp wants to expand the Mundaring sewage
plant by 2012.
The plant has been irrigating the local oval and 2
primary school grounds with excess treated water in
summer, and "temporarily" dumping into Jarrah
Creek each winter for 11 years. Now they want to double
the plant's capacity. They are floating 4 plans to
deal with the excess water.
1. Continue dumping into the creek autumn,
winter, spring, irrigate the oval summers (with twice
as much water). Cost: $5 mil
2. Store water in a tank autumn, dump it winter,
store in spring and in
summer irrigate the oval and schools. Cost: $6 mil
3. Store the water autumn, winter, spring;
irrigate the oval, schools and
an undetermined horticultural enterprise in summer.
Cost: $7 mil
4. Build a pipe down to Midland and join it
to existing pipes out to the
coast. Cost: $12 mil
#4 is most portentous. The Water Corp Planner
publicly admitted if they went this way, the pipe
would also connect the Parkerville, Stoneville, Gidgegannup,
and future developments. They will have found a way
of getting sewerage to the hills. Development would
now be unbridled. Water Corp expressed concern that
the extra $12 mil. could be cost-prohibitive, but
the developers could easily come up with it since
they are poised to make hundreds of millions in profits
and could easily write this off.
None of these options are good. The original design
wasn't supposed to produce any excess effluent, now
they want to double it. Option 3 seems to be the best
choice, store it in a dam during the wet months, and
irrigate the oval and a yet-to-be-found horticultural
site during the dry.
Sewage Plant Update
At a follow-up meeting about it's
proposed sewage plant expansion, Water Corp representatives
have announced the upgraded plant would be filtering
to a much higher degree than presently, eliminating
most complex molecules and bacteria. It isn't possible
to filter most viruses, hormones and small chemical
compounds. Water Corp is in favour of the first option
as it is cheapest and easiest: discharging the water
into Jarrah Creek during the wet months as is currently
the practice. The flow increase would be to 240,000
litres/day. Interested ratepayers can vote for their
choice, contact Judith Krsnik, Sr. Planner. (details
below))
Water
Corp PowerPoint on sewage plant expansion
- important point is on page 8 in option 3
documenting 120,000Lt per day being dumped into
Jarrah Creek.
to comment call or write Julia Krsnik, Water Corp
Planner
julia.krsnik@watercorporation.com.au
, or phone 9420 2823.
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